Japanese Utility Model Publication Gazette No. Sho 57-39,027 discloses a double-bearing fishing reel provided with drag members between a handle shaft rotatably supported to the reel body and a main geaar relative-rotatably supported thereto and having a load setting member screwably supported to the handle shaft for applying a predetermined load to the drag members, so that the load setting member is rotatably operated to adjust the load to be applied to the drag members, i.e., a slipping rotation starting load for the spool.
In greater detail, the slipping rotation starting load for the spool is set by the load setting member corresponding to a proof stress of a fishing line, so that, when the load acting thereon is smaller than the slipping rotation starting load for the spool, a driving force applied by the handle is transmitted from the main gear to the spool to be driven. When the load is larger than the slipping rotation starting load, the drag members slip so as not to transmit the driving force of the handle to the spool, or the spool slipping rotates even when the handle stops, and is subjected to a predetermined braking force.
The load setting member, as described above, sets the slipping rotation starting load for the spool to an optimum load corresponding to a target fish in consideration of the proof stress of the fishing line, with the load setting member being operated to adjust the setting load corresponding to a pulling force of the fish each time it is hooked.
The load setting member, which is controllable between the position where the drag members are subjected to a minimum load and the position where they are subjected to a maximum load, is very difficult to return to the position where the optimum load is obtained after being rotatably adjusted from the optimum load position corresponding to the pulling force of the hooked fish. Therefore, the load setting member, even when preset at the position where the optimum slipping rotation starting load for the spool is obtained for fishing the same kind of fish having an approximately equal pulling force when hooked, shifts in position each time the setting member is adjusted, thereby creating a problem in that the fishing reel is inconvenient to use and has poor fishing efficiency.